Laura
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: She changed everything.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Since I couldn't think of anything to write with "Holding the Crown", I decided to write a different story for Titan. And this is what I came up with. No, not an OC who's gonna fall for Lance. Trust me, far from it. This has minor Ilanca, actually. But here's the prologue! Lance's POV.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Titan, I wouldn't let Cartoon Network cancel it.**

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><p>I guess it started out innocent enough. There were times that I felt lonely in my little bungalow on the dark side of town. Sure, I ranked higher than most military men in Galaluna, but I didn't flaunt it like the rest of them did. They had their big houses and fancy yards. I didn't need that. I had two bedrooms, a kitchen the size of a closet, and a living room. That was all I needed. I was fine with living there. It was fine by my standards.<p>

But she had other thoughts. Laura.

Now I never had problems with people. I tried to stay calm, tried not to get too mad, tried as hard as I could not to lose my patience. And I wanted to say that I had done a pretty good job of all that. I was a good enough guy. Enough to get me above the rank of corporal. Only with Ilana's help though.

Right there was one of my main problems. And I guess maybe Ilana and I had been closer than most people. We had become like brother and sister, then more, then less, and now we were at the point where we only spoke once in a blue moon. But that was how coming back to Galaluna had separated us.

First, I was her guard, then I was her brother, then I was her boyfriend, then I was her savior, then I was her guard, then I was her friend, and now I'm a distant memory that the wind has kidnapped from her mind. Things change.

Which was one of the main reasons I didn't know what had really happened.

As soon as we had gotten back to Galaluna, she had almost immediately engaged herself to some prince (Simon maybe? I couldn't care enough to remember his name.) and had already set a wedding date and everything within the first two months of our return.

Then she was sick for a long time. That was when we had become distant. She had been unseen by everyone for months until she recovered. I had spoken to her once, maybe twice, through a communicator and wrote to her a few times. I was still trying to keep the fire of our friendship alive, but every hand I reached out was swatted down and the last few embers of our relationship were extinguished. That was how things went.

I was living alone in a bungalow with the shades drawn. I was married to my work. I ordered takeout every night. I went to the royal events out of courtesy, avoiding Ilana whenever possible. I had an office in one bedroom and a workout room in the other for my two AM wake ups. My bed was the couch. It was a bad lifestyle, but I couldn't imagine living any other way.

That changed when Laura showed up.

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><p><strong>AN: Short prologue. Sorry. Next one will definitely be much, much longer. Reviews are appreciated!**

**~Sky**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: This plot has really… grabbed me. So you get another fast update! Lance's POV. Well, at this point, I'm not sure if I'll ever change viewpoints. Lance's thoughts on the whole thing are just… fun to write.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own SBT.**

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><p>I was used to getting calls at weird hours and waking up in the middle of the night because of my internal schedule. But it was almost stranger than that when I found it pouring rain outside and there was a girl standing on my doorstep.<p>

I was always one to love rain so I had been sitting out on the back step that led down into my teeny tiny yard before moving back inside for the night. It was probably around eleven at night when I came in to the sound of pounding on the front door. Weird people always came at weird times, so I ignored it for a while. It was nearing midnight and the pounding still hadn't stopped.

I was lifting weights and doing a little work here and there until two AM. That was when I was about ready to blow a gasket, and that was the time that the banging stopped.

Anyone can call me an annoying jerk, but I prefer the term "paranoid".

When it stopped after three solid hours of incessant banging, I'll admit that I was suspicious. Who has that kind of determination? Three hours of knocking on a door that won't open, then stopping. And I was curious. So I made my way to the door and stared through the tiny peephole.

Nothing was there.

Ilana used to call me paranoid all the time. Superstitious even, to a certain extent. I'm a little controlling about things and with my curiosity getting its hooks into me, I unlocked the door's three locks and then turned the handle.

At my feet, the torso of a small, wet girl fell into my doorway, bright brown eyes opening wide as she hit the floor. Her gaze stared up at me for a long moment as I stared down at her before she finally composed herself and managed to get up off the ground. She pulled herself into a kneeling position before using the doorframe to haul herself completely to her feet. "Sergeant Major Lance?" she questioned, her big brown eyes watching me carefully.

"Yes." I was wary. How many _children _came to my door, knocked for hours, and asked for me by rank? Only one. Her. "What is it?"

It was almost funny that Ilana had sent her. That was what she told me at least. She said that the princess had told her to come to me and that I would be here no matter what. "The princess told me that you don't change routine. She said that if I didn't get in contact with you after two in the morning, you just weren't home." It was a little scary that Ilana knew my routine eleven years later. I hadn't seen her in probably two, three years. Never spoke with her, never wrote to her. I let my higher commanding officers take up conversation with her whenever something like that fell on my shoulders. They could deal with it. "And she said to give you this letter." The girl reached into her thin jacket and produced a letter that had been kept safe from the torrents of rain that had been coming down for hours now.

I took the letter between two fingers and blinked a few times. "You were out there the whole time?" I asked, just trying to figure out if this girl was serious. The situation was surreal in my eyes.

Her mop of ebony hair bobbed as she nodded her head. "Yeah. The princess sent me here. She said the letter would explain it."

Now there are a bunch of definitions of sent, but the way I was interpreting it, she was going to leave. But the way she said it that time made me pause and drink in another meaning of the term. Sent. As in, to live here. With me. Under my roof.

What the heck was Ilana thinking?

I knew what I was thinking. "You should get dried off. Towels are in the bathroom, to the left. Not hard to miss." Hopefully, Ilana wasn't going to just leave me stranded with this. The letter was dry compared to the soaked girl who was trodding off to my bathroom to clean up. If Ilana was going to give me some crap excuse, this girl was going right back to the palace.

I watched as she trudged off, ducking into the closet-sized bathroom that I had. It had almost the same dimensions as my kitchen, really. I watched as she took a towel off the rack and began to wring out her hair, water sopping all over my floor.

Well, I _had _left her outside for three hours...

I took the letter to my little card table that I used for my meals. I'd put it up and then fold it back away for breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with my one folding chair. I had left them both out, and I sat myself down in the chair. With one last look at the girl who was drying off in my bathroom, I slipped one finger under the envelope's flap and opened it up with one neat motion.

This would either be a great excuse or a load of crap. Whatever lines Ilana was going to try to feed me, I wasn't keen on buying it. But I unfolded the letter anyways and began to read.

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><p><strong>AN: Fun fun fun! You may even get another chapter this week if you're lucky and review a lot!**

**~Sky**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Told you I'd get another chapter up some time this week. Now I'll just request one thing of you in return for these fast updates. Fight for SBT to get back on the air. Email CN, call CN, rate the videos on the official CN website for SBT. Do what you can. We need to fight for what's right.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all. This whole chapter is a letter.  
><strong>**Warning: Slight reference in this chapter. Just thought I'd tell you. Don't want to get called out for not warning you.**

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><p><em>Lance,<em>

_I wasn't sure how to start writing this. I actually had a hard time figuring out if I wanted to write 'Dear Lance' or not because of everything we went through, but that seemed to formal and everything else seemed to dull. Your name seemed to work just find in my eyes. I hope that's alright for you too._

_I meant to write this a long time ago. I meant to write it about a month after we first got back to Galaluna, but I never found the time to. Everything was just a blur for me, colors, lights, ceremonies. Everything was chaotic here in the palace the second I stepped foot back on the planet. I know you didn't receive the same welcome, but I recall clearly that you had military friends to celebrate our return with. Our lives just split after that. I'm not sure how we got to this point, but we did._

_I sincerely regret leaving you behind so quickly. I know you hated everything about me at one point in time, but when we got past that stage, things were better. Brother and sister, remember? I even remember the times when Octus had to break up our little fights. He really was the perfect parent for us. We were such rowdy teenagers all those years ago. Remember that, Lance?_

_Anyways, I'm sure you're wondering why there's a little girl attached to this letter. Or a letter attached to a little girl. Either way, you're bound to be expecting something ridiculous. But hear me out. Don't turn her away yet. I know that with your background that you won't be able to refuse what I'm about to tell you._

_We're, what, twenty-nine now? After two years on Galaluna with you and after eleven years of missing you, I finally got around to writing this. I feel horrible for leaving it for so long. That and leaving you._

_I honestly miss you, Lance. You were one of the best things that happened to me. But I guess we should have seen this future coming from what happened. We would be celebrated and then taken back to our respective places in the world, me to my palace and you to the military again. That's what you do, I know that. I lived with you for long enough. You were probably one of my only two friends on Earth._

_Anyways, I'm rambling and my fingers are already cramping up. I haven't even gotten to the point of this letter. Laura. I know you probably don't recognize anything of her, but if you looked long and hard enough, you would see how innocent she is and how much her dark hair is like yours. It's softer of course. I would know. (I feel guilty for knowing that.) But she's… Let me find an easier way to put this…_

_Remember that last day on Earth? When we didn't even know it'd be our last day? Octus had sensed the rift gate ripping open and we were surely doomed to die that time. We were losing power with Titan and everything was happening so fast. We hunkered down, you and me, hiding out for hours while Octus was away and trying to find out what was going wrong._

_Surely you didn't forget what happened there._

_Well, this is Laura. She's our daughter._

_Don't think I'm lying. She's an innocent little girl. She's got your hair and your stubborn attitude. I don't know how she got it, it's not genetic, but every time she argues with someone, I see a striking resemblance to you. It drives me crazy to think that you never knew about her until now. I really do feel bad about that. I meant to write to you when I was "sick" (that was just my cover, you know), but I couldn't find a way to write to you that I'd had your daughter._

_I still feel guilty for telling you in a letter, but meeting with you would've only resulted in further conflicts. I've already had enough publicity. I don't feel the need for anymore, and I know you wouldn't want to have your name put on every newsstand in Galaluna. It's not your style, is it?_

_The reason I had to send Laura to you is because her "mother" died. For the ten years she's been around, I've been passing her off as my chambermaid's daughter. It's been working for a long time. No one ever suspected anything as far as I know. I kept Laura close to me, almost closer than her mother. They really were the best maid's that a girl could ask for. They took care of me better than I ever thought possible._

_Recently, Clarissa, my chambermaid, passed away. And Laura, being her "daughter", cannot stay in my care any longer. It's just a palace thing. I tried to fight it, but I can't keep a ten-year-old tending to me all the time. She's almost eleven though. No one paid attention to that argument. So Laura needs to find a safe place to stay. You were the first person I thought of. Who better to take care of the girl than her own father?_

_One thing I want to stress though is that Laura has no idea that I'm her mother and only knows you as my close friend. Well, less close now obviously, but she knows that you were protecting me while we were on Earth. She's a smart girl. She learns fast. Maybe she'll fit in with your lifestyle, however you're living now. The way I picture you is over a sloppy little card table in a little folding chair with a tv dinner and Laura stalking around somewhere or staring at you. But that's how I see it. I've clearly been around you too long._

_Back to the point: Laura doesn't know anything of my little secret. Only Clarissa, my father, and I know. Now you know. Neither my father nor I want a controversy here over her not being Simon's daughter or even the fact that she's my daughter. I can't lose her to someone who'll treat her badly. I know that you'll take care of her, Lance._

_And please don't think of turning her down. She's a sweet girl. She's got the spirit that you always showed, and she can play piano well. It almost reminds me of when you used to be in that band, Disenfranchised._

_The reason I think you won't turn her down is this: you lived without a father for so long that you know the pain. Clarissa never married. Laura never had a father. I know you'd make the perfect figure to her. She would live up to your every expectation. The girl is bright, and there is a whole future ahead of her just like there was for us. She shouldn't have to grow up without a father like you did. And this is your opportunity to be a dad yourself, Lance. I don't know if you ever wanted to fill the shoes that your father couldn't with his disappearance, but I know he really did mean a lot to you and that you could mean a lot to Laura as well._

_I know you're still probably thinking that I'm crazy. I'm not. I wouldn't lie about a little girl's life. She's my whole world, Lance. I know she could be yours too. She's our daughter. And don't tell me that you can't look at her and see how she looks so much like you, dark hair, soft smile, bony build. She's so much like you that I couldn't help but see your image standing behind her every second she was near me. I only wish that maybe we could've stayed on Earth to keep her as our own, together. Like a family._

_Our lives divided and this leaves Laura somewhere between us. She cannot stay with me any longer because of palace guidelines. You're the only person I could think to put her with. I hope that you'll take her in. She's a good girl. She's so much like you that she was the reason I missed seeing you every day. But now she's going to you._

_I'm sorry that I kept her from you for so long. I hope you'll understand why I had to. She was sheltered here. She's been living as a servant under the impression that her mother was my maid. I really hope you'll understand why I had to keep her. But please take her in. I'm ready to beg that you take her in. She needs a father just like you did all those years ago. I just thought I'd tell you her situation. Anyways, this is Laura. Take good care of her._

_Ilana_

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><p><strong>AN: I'm really hoping that you like it. I'm working so hard on this story. It's addictive. So reviews are great. More reviews, more chapters!**

**~Sky**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Still working to get a grasp on these characters. Lance is one of the easier ones I've written (I love doing angsty Lance one-shots.) and Laura… well, you'll see a lot of her soon enough. So far, Lance's POV. May change, but still unsure of that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. At all.**

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><p>Good news was that Ilana hadn't tried to feed me a string of lies. I believed her.<p>

The pieces of the puzzle had added up nicely. The girl had dark hair curled neatly around her hair and it looked a bit like mine. The color was nearly identical, that was obvious. And then she had the dark eyes that both Ilana and I shared. With enough time and patience, I may have been able to put it together, but the letter definitely cleared things up for me.

Other news, I had a daughter.

Now I would say it's bad news, but it's not. Ilana had noted that my own father had never been around. And Laura hadn't had a paternal figure at all. Never. And who was I to deprive someone of a father when I knew the pains of living without a dad myself?

And in the same respect, I wouldn't say that it was good news either. I suddenly had a responsibility. I suddenly had something to live for instead of being able to blindly rush info a battlefield like I had nothing to lose. Because before, there wasn't anything to lose. And now I had a daughter...

The whole world can change in a few heartbeats.

I put down the letter and massaged my temple with one hand. This was all a little much to fathom in the time of a few minutes. One little mistake with a princess and I suddenly have an illegitimate daughter and am a single father of a girl who doesn't know I'm her father. Yeah, this is all looking so good for me, isn't it?

I had a daughter. All that time I thought I'd end up living alone in a hut with an ugly dog and a game of solitaire every night and I come up with a daughter.

Karma bites.

I looked over to her to watch her wring out her hair a bit more with a towel and wipe off most of the moisture from her soaked clothes. She really was a pretty little thing, dark hair, dark eyes, innocent smile. And maybe having a daughter wouldn't be such a bad thing. Sure, a son would've been easier, but less of a challenge. And a daughter would be like taking care of Ilana like I had on Earth. Me, a warrior, tending to the every whim of a girl who always knew what she wanted. And if what Ilana had said was true, then this girl would be a lot like her mother. Determined and ready for anything.

"So it looks like you're staying here," I commented after folding the letter up again and sticking it down into my pocket. She couldn't see the contents of it or else there'd be a royal scandal. That wasn't something any of us wanted. "You have bags or anything?"

I was kind of feeling awkward when she shook her head and told me that all of her things would be delivered the next day. Which meant Ilana had been expecting me to take this girl in. And Laura continued to tell me that the princess had taken good care of her and that since her mother had died, she had been watched over by the princess until the council had determined that she had to leave. Then came the painstaking process of tracking down my humble little abode and sending a ten-year-old girl through the capital of the planet to find me and then running the risk of me not taking her in. Of course, she didn't know there was that risk, but I'd keep that fact to myself.

One thing I learned right away about Laura was that she liked to talk. A lot. Reminded me of Ilana. Sort of. But Ilana was more puppy-dog-ish. Laura was just a chattering little bird.

But while it was nearing four in the morning, Laura was running low on energy; I could see her drooping eyelids and her posture slowly fading to the point of her being slouched over instead of upright. The fatigue was written across her pointed features (almost like Ilana's) and wasn't hard to read.

"It's time for you to get some rest," I said, trying to see how I could work this fatherly role that I was now meant to fill. "You can take my room tonight." I pointed in the general direction of it with my thumb only to see her shaking her head with wide eyes.

"No! That's wrong!"

Call me crazy, but last I checked, the host was supposed to give the guest the best stuff. And the father was supposed to give the daughter the best stuff. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

And she kept talking, words tumbling out of her mouth like a waterfall that had just been let loose by a dam. "It's your house! I'm a guest and you deserve to keep your room! I insist! I slept on a cot back in the castle in the servant's quarters! All I need are some blankets and I'll be fine, promise!" Her eyes were wide and almost fearful. That childlike innocence was just everywhere upon her. "I'm a big girl! I can sleep on the floor!"

Like heck I was letting any kid of mine sleep on the floor. "Well I'm not sleeping on the bed," I told her. "So you have to take it." If she was going to be stubborn, I was determined to be stubborn right back. I pushed a few strands of my long dark hair away from my face, still trying to get this girl to submit.

Then I realized that Ilana was right. This girl had a one-track mind; she really was like me... That was a scary thought. Me versus a mini-me.

No, I'm not crazy.

"Well I'm not taking your bed either," she said with a little bit of a challenge in her eyes. Her thin little arms crossed her chest and a bit of a devilish smile passed her lips. "So you _have_ to." And she looked like she was satisfied, as if she had won.

Which, in fact, she hadn't.

"Then we're both sleeping on the floor, how's that?" I finalized, not willing to give her the satisfaction of winning. And then I felt guilty for arguing with a ten-soon-to-be-eleven-year-old. And I folded my arms across my chest, giving her that same little smirk; no, she wasn't about to beat me. No way was I letting my own daughter beat me at my own game.

I thought I saw a little flicker of shock pass her eyes, but she quietly submitted to this idea, head still held high and indignantly. Neither of us wanted to give in. Such a petty argument and obviously not a good start to this relationship. "Fine," she grunted.

And it took us a couple of minutes and it was nearing dawn when I finally had her curled up on the floor in a blanket, eyes flickering behind closed lids. Sleep had taken her within seconds of putting her head on a pillow. And when I had offered her that pillow, she'd refused. Apparently, they didn't have pillows in the castle's servant quarters. I wondered if Ilana knew that. (I made her take the pillow in the end. She didn't have the energy to argue that time.)

And as I curled up on the floor parallel to the cocoon I had wrapped Laura into while she giggled and exclaimed that it tickled before lulling into a soft slumber, I realized that I'd be thinking about Ilana a lot more. I'd pushed her out of my mind, trying to forget what I could about our time on Earth, but even I knew she couldn't stay out of my head forever.

Laura just proved that Ilana was meant to be part of my life for as long as I lived. The only question left was whether or not I would love or hate the thought of knowing Ilana would always be lingering in the back of my mind.

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><p><strong>AN: Shorter. Sorry. Had to get the rest of that night in before. Next chapter will be a bit more fun. Be patient with me please. Reviews are awesome. Don't forget to leave one.**

**~Sky**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Honestly, I haven't felt the urge to write anything anymore. It's like I burned out my writing light. So we've got a problem. But I do need to find some inspiration. No big plots have come up and whacked me upside the head yet, that's for sure. I mean, I got one little one-shot thought out, but different fandom, so whatever. Anyways, here's another chapter! I apologize a billion times over again for the delay!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own SBT. Do you own it? If so, GIVE IT ANOTHER SEASON!  
>Warning: Minor cussing. Not sure what I have as the rating set on this story... So I apologize. There won't be much overall, but just wanted to give the heads-up.<strong>

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><p>I don't think there's anything that makes you feel worse about yourself than when you wake up and have someone serving you food for the first time in your life. I was never served food as a child as far as I know. I took care of myself. My dad brought me cookies and stuff in the middle of the night, but I was usually the one who made them prior to that moment.<p>

But waking up and seeing Laura in my closet-sized kitchen and cleaning up a mess of pans and eggshells and other junk while I'm sleeping on the floor with a plate of food in front of me is just kind of a weird situation. I spent most of my life alone, and now there's this little pixie-like girl flitting around and doing everything that I never did, not even once, and making me feel terrible about myself.

To make things worse, I get a chipper "Good afternoon!" from her and a big smile before she goes back to cleaning.

Dammit. Making me look like I'm a bad person. Who does she think she is?

Right. A servant girl. Dammit, Ilana… If I ever got her on the phone, I swear she would get an earful.

"What time is it?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and trying to keep my words from slurring together. I don't do well without coffee, lemme just say that. Coffee is almost always ready by eight in the morning and now it's afternoon, and I was still asleep, and I had no coffee. What is the world coming to?

"One in the afternoon." She continued to bustle around the kitchen with a rag and dust everything off or wipe away stray crumbs. "If we got to sleep at about four or five in the morning, something like that, then you got about-" She squinted for a moment. "-nine hours or so of sleep."

That was eight more hours than I needed. "Alright," I sighed, prodding at the food in front of me and sticking whatever she made into my mouth. Food is food. Takeout is my usual meal, so something hot and not chock full of fat was a bit of a change. "But I gotta leave to get to the academy in about five minutes, so you'd better… I don't know, do something while I'm not here that doesn't involve destroying my house."

What do you do with a ten-year-old? I never had pets. Well, Tashy 497, but that didn't count. Completely different scenario. Especially since we threw it into space and let it explode there, so… I'm not going to say I'm the greatest with other living beings. Look at Ilana. I'm still not sure how she made it out of there alive with me. Octus, probably.

"I won't." Her voice still had that high, bird-like tone, and Laura continued to wear that huge smile on her face. "I'll just clean up, if that's alright."

Not like I was going to clean anything. "Um, sure." I put another forkful of food into my mouth, trying to wake up without coffee in my system. I don't like trying to live without coffee. Coffee is my drug, I swear it. "You already ate?"

"Nope." She continued to clean up my stupid kitchen.

Oh, that makes me feel so great. I'm eating before my daughter has. Nothing could ever make me feel worse. "Then eat this," I said, sitting up from my pile of blankets (yeah, I was too lazy to even try to get a sleeping bag or something) and holding the plate up to her as she passed me to get to the garbage can.

She shook her head at me and continued to walk on by. If only she knew how bad she was making me feel… I wanted to be a good father, at least a good paternal figure if she didn't know the big secret, but whatever. I wasn't about to subconsciously treat her like garbage. She was a good kid; she deserved some respect.

"Seriously, take this and eat it."

"I can eat later," she insisted, walking past me again. "But anyways, I went out around ten this morning and went to the store with a bit of the money Princess Ilana sent with me and got some food and such and…" She continued to babble on about all the unimportant stuff she did to fix up my house, making me feel just that much worse about myself. Let me just say, there's a lot of stuff that can make someone feel bad, but this is one of the worst things I have ever done. I didn't even have any food in my house to give her. Pathetic. Yeah, that's me. Pathetic.

"So you have to go to the academy later?" she asked, taking my empty plate from me (how I was eating it while she was talking, I had no idea) with a little smile and a glimmer of curiosity in her strikingly dark eyes. "What do you do there?"

My rank was kind of ignored. I'd given up on the actual war thing after the Mutraddi incident was over, but I was still going to the same academy that I had been trapped at to teach the kids. I knew it was horrible there when I was little so I was putting a bit of effort in to make the place better. And when there actually was a war going on, I was in the front row, leading the army that Ilana would give me. "It's an academy," I told her and then gave her a bit of a look.

A moment of silence was broken by "Oh!" as she finally understood. The girl was a lot more like her mother than she would ever know. Ilana always had those little light bulb moments. Those made me smile; Laura's face lit up and she smiled as she realized it. It was like being on Earth all over again. Except for she wasn't Ilana.

"Yeah," I said, sitting on the ground as she continued to walk around. For some reason, I felt more like the child in this scenario. "Anyways-" I started to rise to my feet, trying to figure that I had to get ready to get to the academy. I was already really late, but I guess my excuse was that a girl had shown up on my doorstep in the middle of the night and that she was from the palace and that I'd had to take care of her most of the morning. It was a good enough excuse, right? "-I have to get going. Can you behave yourself for a few hours?" I figured she could, but it felt better asking. I wanted to start that whole bonding crap as soon as possible just to get it out of the way.

"Can't I come with?"

That… was not what I expected to hear out of the mouth of a palace servant girl. But it was what I expected to hear out of my daughter, so I guess it was just a matter of which side I would go with. The father side of me or the guardian side of me. I was both, but she only knew of one… "Sure." Against my better judgment. "Just don't… don't touch anything." Because girls usually touch things. Boys play with things, but girls touch things and that bothers me even more. I snagged my backpack, always filled with what I needed to head to the academy with, and hoped that I didn't look too much like a raggedy hobo. "Think you can be ready to go in about three minutes?"

"We can go now," she said, giving me a pleading look and pushing a few strands of her short black hair out of her eyes.

I don't know how to argue with a cute little girl. I've never had to. Not as an adult at least. I argued with Ilana thousands of times before we got back home, but I never had to fight with someone younger and cuter while I was an adult. From what I've learned, resisting puppy-dog eyes is something much harder than fighting off a Mutraddi fire beast. Just saying. "Just don't do anything stupid." Because what else am I supposed to do with her? I can't do anything, that's the problem. Leave her home all by herself, an idea I'm not fond of, or take her with me and run the risk of her destroying my career.

With the career, at least I'll have a princess on my side.

"I won't," she says and cocks her head to one side, putting her hands together behind her back as she looks up at me.

What did I get myself into?

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><p><strong>AN: Hehe, oh Lance is so screwed and you know it. Reviews make me update faster!**

**~Sky**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: So this hasn't been updated since, what, forever? I'm so sorry to leave everyone hanging like this. Especially in such a dead fandom. It's so wrong of me to do that. Anyways, here's another chapter of "Laura".**

**Disclaimer: I own Laura. Not SBT. VIVA LA TITAN!**

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><p>My office is like my house. Small. Unorganized. Stuffy. Pitiful.<p>

I'm a Sergeant Major and I live in what someone could compare to a slum. Out of choice, better yet.

"So you train kids here?" asked Laura as her dark little eyes looked all around my office before she pulled open the ever-drawn shades that hadn't let in a tendril of light in years and suddenly brightened the whole room; my little desk lamp was rendered useless in a heartbeat. "Not in this room, but in the academy, I mean," she quickly covered, finding faults in her words. "Because you don't strike me as the lecturing teacher type. Not to say you don't look smart or anything, I just mean-"

"You talk a lot," I noted before kicking a chair up beside my desk and flipping off the light that had been switched on by my instinctive habit. "Did Ilana ever tell you that?"

She shook her head and settled into the dinky little chair; a puff of dust rose from it, making her cough once or twice before continuing on what felt like an endless chatter rant. "No. She always encouraged me to talk and speak my mind and such. She said she liked hearing my voice."

In all the years of never having my mother around, I forgot how strong that maternal instinct could be. Mama-bear didn't even describe it sometimes. Fierce and warm and hungry and tired and determined and perfect in every way. I'd forgotten that. Seeing how great of an influence Ilana had had over Laura almost made me miss my time with the princess more than I usually did. In truth, Ilana had saved ms from killing myself on Earth. I hated living there when I could never be saved...

It only figured that Ilana would keep Laura talking. A memory of me. A reminder of who her real mother was. And she had a sweet voice: calm, poised, ready. Like her mother.

"Why do you have an office?"

She liked questions. "Because I still have papers to fill out, forms to register, names to process, kids to pass and fail." I pulled my own chair out and plopped down into it, my body feeling tired from the lack of sleep. "Even if I do teach most of the physical training parts of this school, I still have as much paperwork as the academic teachers. Less, sure, but I still have it as much as the next guy." My fingers tapped upon the tired wood of the desk, and my eyes skimmed the stacks of files that I had to get around to sorting.

God, why can't it all just be fun and games?

"Do you need help?" She was already filing through papers and rearranging the pencils in the pencil holder so that the ones with more eraser left were on the right for easy grabbing. It was almost like she couldn't stop herself from being like that.

Servant girl. Right.

"I need to be able to teach over a thousand kids how to fight, how to shoot, how to survive, and how to march. Help isn't on that list."

"But I can help. I could be like an assistant!" A smile spread across her face and it was like she was radiating sunshine all her own. "I could do all this paperwork and clean this musty old office and help around your house. It'd be like being back at the palace but smaller!" Laura really was that was. Half of me wished she'd been raised by Ilana with a stubborn attitude and a winning spirit that couldn't be crushed. But she had both of those, just redirected.

"If you want." Not like the paperwork was going to do itself... And if Laura was coming to work with me, what else did she really have to do?

In a serious fashion, she stood up and picked up all the files before taking them over to a table that was off to one side of my awkward rectangular office and starting to sort and organize and work.

My office is this disgusting room with one wall completely filled with shelves. Like a library room. But they're empty shelves. I have no books. My desk is right in front of the door, two chairs across from where I sit and papers strewn everywhere. To the right of the door is a water cooler (not sure why that's even in there...) and further beyond that is a massive window that encompasses the entire wall it's on except for the thick mahogany curtains on the sides. Beneath that was Laura, eagerly working away on the table below the window. My office is hideous. Dark. Ugly. Boring. Messy.

Sounds like me, doesn't it?

"And what are you going to do?" she asks just as I lean back in my chair and exhale the musty, dusty air that I always had to drink in.

"Probably gonna have to talk to the supervising council so they don't chew me out for being late and not calling in ahead of time." I ran a hand through my hair while looking out the window for the first time in years. I never knew that the sun was right there this whole time… "And I've got to start building the training course for the games at the end of the year." It wasn't something I was looking forward to. "Good news is, I have two months to work on it. Nothing done yet, but I kind of like being challenged to finish it in a week."

Laura turned around and gave me an almost horrified stare. "You procrastinate?"

"…yeah…" I'm a teacher or instructor or whatever you want to call me, and I slack off a bit, sure, but is that really such a terrible thing? Okay, looking back at it, I should probably do more, but I take care of the kids, no one gets unfair treatment, I watch the bullying problem, and actually _do _my paperwork. Or at least most of it. So I deserve some credit. I'm not bad at what I do. I just don't do it great.

"That's not a good habit."

"Yeah, I know." I tensed up the muscles in one leg before letting it relax again. "But I don't really care. I'm cool with it." I knew I should really go talk with the council people and get my excuses squared away before they fired me. I'm late a lot, actually…

And that was when the phone rang. So I, reluctantly, picked it up and held it to my ear before saying, "Sergeant Major Lance." That was basically the same as saying "Hello" in this place, but less nice.

"My office. Now. The king sent a messenger with a letter to you." That was Baron. Still reigning over me. Even though I won the Medal of Excellence and all that. He still ranked higher because he was in school longer and helped fight the war while I was protecting the crown of Galaluna. But no worries. It's all good. He didn't beat up on me anymore. That was the only bonus of being grown up though.

"Can't you send him down here?" When I said down, I meant down. My office is in one of the corners of the building. It's so hidden and sheltered that even instructions probably would get the poor messenger lost. But then I could always send Laura out to find him. Keep her busy and keep her from touching my stuff. I'm cool with her filing, but what's she going to do when she gets done with that?

"Lance."

"Alright, up in a sec." Being me, I could still use slang terms. Stuff I picked up from Earth that Galaluna still hadn't really adapted to. Sometimes, I would ask for cereal and get weird stares. It's called something else here, but I just call it cereal. And I hung up the phone again before getting out of my dirty chair and moving to the door. "Laura?"

"Yes?" she asked as she looked over her shoulder at me, the sunlight silhouetting her form.

I missed Ilana so much in that single moment.

"Behave. I'll be back in ten minutes."

"Okay." And she went right on back to filing all my reports, swiftly putting everything where it belonged as if that were her sole purpose in life. To organize my work. A long shadow was cast on the floor behind her.

And I left, hoping Baron wouldn't chew me out for getting in late. The messenger was probably there, but he'd leave the second I got the letter, meaning Baron would have time for a word with me.

Great.

I just didn't want Laura to touch anything; that was my main concern.

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><p><strong>AN: Yup, Lance **_**clearly **_**has his priorities straight. What do you think? Reviews are appreciated! Will update soon, promise!**

**~Sky**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yes, another update! Now I've got a goal for this story. Time to set to work. Shorter, yes, but necessary.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. VIVA LA TITAN!**

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><p>Baron's office made mine look like a closet. Big windows. White bookshelves. Not a paper in sight. Always upstaging me. Whatever.<p>

The messenger was a wiry guy, nervous, and clearly on some sort of drug. I wouldn't comment, but he did rise and salute me when I approached Baron's desk. That was more than most people did. My first thought was a promotion, but my mind was flickering back to Ilana's letter. The king knew about Laura. So I figured that this could only be about his granddaughter. Why else would the king get in touch with ms after so long?

It only took a heartbeat for the messenger to leave, his eyes growing a little bloodshot as he practically fled the room. Definitely on drugs. He was too flighty for my liking.

"Lance," Baron began in his dictator tone, "you're falling behind in all your work and Arthur's been having to fill in for you more and more. I'm concerned that-"

"Baron," I began in my own cool, collected tone, my attempt to trump him obvious, "I have everything perfectly covered. My work will be caught up soon, Arthur will be back to his secretary desk in no time, and I have everything covered." I met his gaze levelly. Neither of us would cringe. I remembered the days of beatings. He remembered the days of power. Now, we were on an even playing field. "Don't worry. I've got this." With a little help from Laura and some extra effort on my behalf, I could clean up my act and get my life back on track. It used to be easier. Before things got busy. And I got bored.

His pointed features were directed in my direction as he looked me over, watching for any signs of me to flinch or waver or lose a bit of self-control. It was like he was almost waiting for me to give him an excuse to get me out of this place and fire me.

The past is the past. He couldn't bother me anymore.

"Fair enough." His voice was always a little nasally, but it got worse as he got older. "I'm trusting you, Lance."

I was ready to be honest. Clearly, he wasn't. "No you're not." I took my letter off his desk where the messenger had left it in his rush to escape and stuck it into the back pocket of my worn out jeans. I started to turn to leave; Baron's voice put that thought on hold.

"Do you know what the king would want with you?"

I knew. He had this thoughts, none of them even remotely related to mine. He still thought me and Ilana had a thing and were secretly communicating through a messenger chain. Baron was always a creeper. "No clue." He didn't have to know that I knew what the king wanted. I mean, I have a daughter and Baron doesn't need to know about that. He'd put the pieces together a little too soon for my liking.

He looked me over, eyes staring past his pointed nose while trying to analyze me and find the hidden answers that I held. "Then go back to your office. I expect all your work to be finished by the end of this week, Lance. I don't want to have to ask you again."

"And you won't have to," I said, giving him a slacking salute before heading off with the letter trapped between two fingers. Whatever this was, it had to be good. Ilana had already sent me a letter with most of the details, so if the king had to add more to whatever she said, it was bound to be important. "Catch ya later, Baron."

He said nothing, but I heard him sit back down in his chair with a heavy sigh, the work of dealing with me finished for a while. We still hated each other, but it was a little bit easier to deal with. I had to see him on a regular basis, and I depended on him for my job; he depended on me to get my work done so his school ran smoothly. 'cause Baron's the headmaster. Which sucks for me, but we deal with each other.

"Get it done, Lance!" he called after me with that demanding raised voice.

"I will!" And I slit open the letter with one finger while shouldering open the doors and letting myself out, my feet moving back to my office automatically as I unfolded the letter and began to read.

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><p><strong>AN: Review!**

**~Sky**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: This is short, but it's all I needed. Next chapter will be longer and will be up soon, I promise.**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own. VIVA LA TITAN!**

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><p><em>Lance,<em>

_I almost find it hard to write to you after being estranged for so long. I still remember all the times I had to break you out of the prison for all of your ill behavior._

_Maybe getting to the point would be easier than reminiscing about Time's past._

_Surely by now you've gotten Laura. From my daughter's word, you should have received her last night. Since she wasn't sent back, we can only assume she's with you._

_We hope you haven't spilled the little secret to her yet. Don't want a scandal in the castle right now. I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but a rival Mutraddi clan is closing in on those we've sealed a peace treaty with. War may be among us again..._

_But that is to the side for the moment. I'm more curious as to your opinion of your daughter. Do you see yourself in her? She's got a fine punch. She showed one of the stable boys a thing or two about a month before her mother passed. Not Ilana, but her surrogate. Do you see it in her?_

_I should still be getting to the point. I apologize; I'm getting on in my years and have the tendency to ramble a bit._

_Your father, Edward, left aside a fund for you for extra schooling and such or for whatever the need may be for it. It was supposed to be for you in your teenage years for bikes and weapons and anything your heart could desire._

_Since the war and your presence being on Earth instead of here on Galaluna, the fund was never used. I looked into records and such to see if you'd drawn anything out, but it appears to have laid untouched all these years._

_Why am I telling you this? Well, you've got a daughter now, and everyone knows you well enough to understand your lifestyle. I just thought I'd let you know of this so that you can use it to pay for anything Laura would need when the times comes for her to go to school and learn everything a servant girl never could._

_Another reason to speak with you: I wish to send my gratitude to you for taking her in. You've given her a life she could only ever dream of. She isn't taking orders anymore, and she isn't dealing with the daily problems with the stable boys anymore. You've saved her, Lance. Ilana and I can never thank you enough._

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><p><strong>AN: There's the king's letter. Review for the next chapter.**

**~Sky**


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